Automobile headlight



15,1925. 1565,860 E. H. LUKENBILL AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT Filed 00 1a. 1924 QW WarELukeMI/I Patented Dec; 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PAENT EDGAI} Hv LUKENBILL, OF LINCOLN, ILLINOZE.

AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT.

Application filed October 16, 1924:. Serial No. 7451,99 2.

To (171 whom it may concern:

lle it known that I, EDGAR'H. Lu xnnanin, a citizen of. the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of LoganyState. of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile Headlights; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others w skilled in the art to wl'iich it appertains to malts and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in headlights, and particularly to headlights for vehicles. lVith practichlly all headlights now in use on automobiles, and particularly when v the bright lights are burning, the glare in the eyes of an approaching driver is confusing and often results in such driver steering his cat oil the road, causing damage to the car as well as injury or death to'the occupants. This glare is due to the fact that the reflected ll ht rays from the headlights shine u ward ly as well as downwardly and. lateral y, and it is the upwardly directed rays that meet'the eyes of the approaching driver. As mow constructed, the interior face of the concave lamp casing is reflecti ve, with the result that the light rays are reflected upwardly from the lower portion of the easin and reach the eyes of the approaching river, in s ite of the fact that translucent or colored shields are arranged to partly cover the upper portion of the lens of the casing. It is therefore the object of thisinvention to render this lower portion oi? the lamp casing nonretiective, in connection with the upper reflector and opaque shield so that no light rays will be 0 deflected upwardly all. rays passing from the front oi? the lamp casing in a horizontal direction, or downwardly and forwardly, thereby preventin any rays reaching the eyes of an approaching driver.

(Dther objects and advantages parent I taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawingl 5 Figure 1 is a front elevation of a hezdlight made in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is vertical longitudinal central sectional View on the line of Figure 1.

will be atfrom the following description When Vl igure a vertical. transverse sectional view on the line i-l-fil of Figure 2.

Referring particularly to the accompanyin droning. there is shown a headlight easing 1 which is approximately conical iii-shape, with a concave relieetor 11 in the rear or smaller end, an electric lamp 12 he ino; disposed through the center of said reflector. The casing 10 has its upper side disposed in a horizontal plane, as indicated at 13, while the lower side inclines downoiardly as shown at is. Secured in the upper portion oi the casing 10 is a fiat metal plate 15, which extends from the "forward end of the casing to a distaneeapproximately two thircls of the length. of the casing, the marginal edges of: the said plate losing along lines which are approximately carol.- lel with the line of the lower side of the easiiig'. The lower face of this plate. 15 is in the form of a reflector. The interior of the lower portion or easing-is rendered noni'efiective, as indicated at 16., by some dull material, as paint, or the iihe, whereby to prevent reflection of the light m s from the lamp. The upper marginal edges of this nonrefleetive surface are approximately parallel with the upper horizontal portion oi. the Wall of the casing. A translucent or opaque shield'ifi is disposed at the forward end of the reflector plate 15, to cover the portion of the lens 18, which lies between the plane of the forward endot said reflector plate and the for lard end of the up: per portion of the wall of the casing, which serves to prevent the reflector 15 from heiug visible from the" front of the automobile. The shield it" may he a senarate metal late, or this portion of the lens may he COlOlGCl or apaque.

By this construction, the light rays which pass horizontally from the casin pass under the reflector l5 plate 15am deflected downwardly and lor- Wardly onto the road. The light rays which strike the nonreflective surface More thus prevented from passing upwardly into the eyes of an approaching driver. It will readily be seen that no light rays 'Willpass from the headlight above the lower line of the reflector and shield; and in Vlgjl fact that the 'a'oproaching' drive, is conaiderably above this line, no glare inset of the and the shield ihwhne the rays which strike the reflecting face of the ill.\ eyes. no matter how bright the light in the headlights. Furthermore, it will not be necessary for the driver to use dimmers, as he can drire with his bright lights on without annoyance to approaching drivers, while at the same time permitting him to properly light up the road ahead. Ordinarily, when passing or up iroaching another automobile, the driver 0 anges from his bright lights to his dim lights, butwith the present device no dim lamps are necessary.

The lamp is of the double filament type, thus making provision for dimming when the automobile is parked. I

To provide for economy in material, in making the lamp casing, the u per arched portion, above the plate 15 may e dispensed with and the. upper portion formed fiat and in the plane of the plate, said plate being a portion of the casing.

What is claimed is:

An automobile headlight including a forwardly flared casing the lower portion of the ,interior of which is nonrefle'ctive, a source of light and a reflector in the smaller end of the casing, an opaque shield covering the upper portion of the lens of the lam casing, and an inclined fiat reflector exten ing from the lower portion of said shield upwardly and rearwardly'to a point intermediate tbe length of the top of the 'casing.

Lure.

EDGAR H. LUKENBILL.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa- 

